The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and the National Water and Sanitation Regulator of Peru (SUNASS), hosted an event on July 10, 2018, to present the results of GGGI’s study on the readiness of water utilities to implement Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) scheme in the country. Peru’s innovative PES legal framework mandates that all water utilities set

SUNASS President Iván Lucich opens the event with an introduction on its Payment for Ecosystem Services tariff

aside a percentage of the water tariff to invest in conservation and restoration efforts in the watershed in coordination with local communities. By 2021, water utilities in Peru are projected to reserve up to USD $50M exclusively for these types of green infrastructure interventions.

The study focused on 22 water utilities nationwide that have started to reserve funds for PES. It will help the country’s water utilities and SUNASS unlock green public investments to enhance ecosystem services.

GGGI’s study highlighted the regulatory and policy advances developed by SUNASS to date and the challenges of water utilities that remain ahead. It addressed key questions for PES implementation, such as criteria for determining the reserves, in-house capacities of water utilities to develop public investment projects, and readiness of their organizational structures for PES implementation.

GGGI staff member Pablo Peña discusses the survey of water utilities supported by GGGI to provide value for SUNASS and other cooperation agencies

One main finding is that water utilities believe in the importance of PES mechanisms to increase clean water availability in cities, but they need more capacities and support to design and implement them. The event convened cooperation institutions that are working on water issues in Peru. Representatives from organizations such as USAID, Swiss Development Cooperation, KOICA and other NGOs who participated learned about the challenges that remain to implement investments at the watershed level. The results of the study can help steer international cooperation funds to the specific challenges that remain for the widespread implementation of PES projects by water utilities. The event is part of GGGI’s cooperation agreement with SUNASS. The objective of this agreement is to help SUNASS strengthen its future strategic efforts in sustainable water development.